I spent most of today weeding the vegetable garden, an exercise (pun intended) that meets my definition of pure delight. What amazes me even more than the speed at which weeds re-establish themselves are the beautiful lessons I learn while disengaging the things I planted from those that continually invade their space.
Although today's tutorial is indisputably simple, I thought it might encourage someone else. Here goes.
Although the biggest hunk of my time today was spent reaming crabgrass out of the pea patch, I also pitched out a lot of dead or dying pea plants. We've enjoyed those succulent legumes "straight from the pod" or lightly steamed with freshly dug potatoes - but that source is coming to an end.
Then there was the large bucket of lettuce we pulled from the garden. Although it's bitter to our taste now, our son's chickens will enjoy the feast. Somehow it seemed like just a few days ago that we rejoiced to see it emerging from the ground. It grew and flourished but it no longer appears on our supper table.
The green beans are another story. They'd just begun to produce a bountiful crop when the local deer discovered them. I'm glad we had a couple of meals before the denuded plants joined the lettuce in the family chicken coop. It doesn't seem fair that they were cut down prior to yielding all their potential.
Who hasn't struggled with these same issues: the loss of vibrant health, the temptation to let life make us bitter, especially when we (or others) are cut down in our prime, and the realization that we'll never achieve all our dreams?
"he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." (2 Corinthians 9:6)
Lord, help me learn from the past, give my best to the present and let You evaluate the harvest.
